[Then follows a list of the sweet wines, and a long recipe for Hippocras, ll. 117-176.]
The Buttery
“See that your cups and pots be clean, both within and without. Serve no ale till it is five days old, for new ale is wasteful.[[125]] And look that all things about you be sweet and clean.
“Be fair of answer, ready to serve, and gentle of cheer, and then men will say; ‘There goes a gentle officer.’
“Beware that ye give no person stale drink, for fear that ye bring many a man into disease for many a year.[[125]]
“My son, it is now the time of day to lay the table. First, wipe it with a cloth ere it be spread, then lay on it a cloth called a cowche.[[125]] You take one end and your mate the other, and draw it straight; and lay a second cloth with its fold on the outer edge of the table.[[126]] Lift the upper part and let it hang even. And then lay the third cloth with its fold on the inner edge, making a state[[126]] half a foot wide, with the top. Cover your ewery-cupboard[[127]] with a diapered-towel, and put a towel round your neck,[[126]] for that is courtesy, and put one end of it mannerly over your left arm; and on the same arm place your lord’s napkin, and on it lay eight loaves of bread, with three or four trencher-loaves. Take one end of the towel in your left hand, as the manner is, together with the salt-cellar—look you do this—and take the other end of the towel in your right hand with the spoons and knives.
“Set the salt on your lord’s right hand, and to the left of your salt, one or two trenchers, and to the left again, your knife by itself and plain to see, and the white rolls, and beside them a spoon upon a fair folded napkin. Cover your spoon, napkin, trencher and knife, so that they cannot be seen; and at the other end of the table place a salt with two trenchers.
“If you wish to wrap up your lord’s bread in a stately fashion, first square off the bread sharply and evenly, and see that no bun or loaf be larger in proportion to the others, and so shall ye be able to wrap it up mannerly for your master. Take a towel of Rennes cloth,[[128]] two and a half yards long, fold it lengthwise[[128]] and lay it on the table. Roll up a handful from each end tightly and stiffly, then in the middle of the towel place eight loaves or buns, bottom to bottom, and then wrap them wisely and skilfully. To tell you more plainly for your information: take the ends of the towel that lies on the bread, draw them out and twist tightly a handful nearest the bread and smooth the wrapper stiffly. When it is ready, you must open one end all in a moment before your lord.
When your sovereign’s table is dressed in this array, place salts on all the other tables, and lay trenchers and cups; and then set out your cupboard with gay silver and silver-gilt, and your ewery board with basins and ewers, and hot and cold water, each to temper the other. Look that you have ever enough napkins, spoons and cups for your lord’s table; also, for your own dignity, that your pots for ale and wine be as clean as possible, and beware ever of flies and motes, for your own sake.